I Became the Patron of Villains

83. Nod (3)

[The god of this world has been dethroned.]

A voice whispered in Alon’s ear.

A bizarre sound, as if mixed with strange noise, making it impossible to tell if it was a man, woman, child, or elder.

Alon, who had experienced such phenomena once before, suddenly realized that his body was floating alone in a place that resembled the deep sea he had seen earlier.

[The original gods who lost their thrones were deprived of many things.]

The voice, tinged with noise, continued to speak softly.

[Some lost their names.]

[Some lost their bodies.]

[Some lost their minds.]

[Some lost their honor.]

[They lost many things, and were plundered.]

[The dark ones. They plundered many things.]

Focusing on the mysterious voice that seemed to make him lose his mind if he let his guard down even a little, Alon suddenly felt a sense of wonder.

Surely, as he knew, the moment he looked into the mirror, he had to face the truth.

Yet, in his vision, there was only a void darker than the deep sea, and only the noise-filled voice could be heard.

‘What on earth is this?’

Alon tried to speak, but unfortunately, his voice did not come out as he intended.

The moment he felt something strange.

[That thing- Bebelnatbyantumluknyokkwaengddungneongmumnimbeoldakmalkbim────]

“!”

A voice, distorted with noise as if it would tear apart, reached his ears, and instinctively, he raised both hands to cover them.

[─────Beoldaknaetgeutdeungnangmupkwaengraetgakryumdatbeukkulkwohe]

Regrettably, the horrific sound, which seemed capable of making him lose his hearing, continued to hammer directly into his mind.

And then.

[As expected, not yet.]

Along with a low noise.

[Eliminate the one hidden in the continent, the one who was taken.]

By the time he heard that content again.

[Pò̫̟̱̱͓̃̿͗̓sik͔͔̭͈̠̀͒̉̓(̫̫̯̳̳̙̣͖̪̜͎̊͛̇̏̐̌̓͑́̿̋̒捕̯̦̰̜̠̬̯̀̽͑͗͗̈̃̅̉ͅ食̤͕̫̞̤̽̂̉̊͒̂͋̉͗̅)̱͓̩̪̿̈́͆̌͒̚ȋ̜̭̟̦̦̜̆̊̇̏̅yeo̤͔̙̱̫̟̥̤̙̅̅͒̏̉̑̃̅̔͂̀̎ͅ]

Alon could finally see.

[Now-]

What he was facing.

It was not the deep sea.

Nor was it the abyss.

At the edge of Alon’s gaze, countless nebulae.

[For̴̨̛̦̫̙̱̀́͋͗th҈̢̱̗̃͑̒͞e҈̧͉͈̎̀̊̾͌͡ sake̵̢̱̟̒̒̍͠ oḟ̸̢̪̯͚̞̋͑͡,̶̧̮͖͖̭͑̐͋̐̕ savȩ̷̥͖̪̅̇͠ your҉̲̯̏̄͑̕͜ words.̶̛̳̯̎̓̅͢]

Alon stared blankly ahead.

At what he had thought was the abyss until now, as if entranced.

Simultaneously, as he ‘recognized’ what had appeared to be the abyss.

Noise began to fill his vision.

A point in his vision.

Half of his vision.

His entire vision.

Filled with noise.

Alon witnessed it.

The ‘eye’ staring at him.

Eyes like the abyss, holding the nebula.

And then.

[Close your eyes.]

At its signal.

“Gasp-!”

Unconsciously, he took a deep breath and blinked several times in surprise. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the deep-sea observatory.

Alon, the observer in front of him.

“Are you… okay?”

Looked at him with a very bewildered face.

Alon, who was momentarily puzzled by that expression, realized that his eyes were wet and looked at the mirror.

And there.

“……”

He saw himself bleeding from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

####

A little later.

“…As expected, it’s not an ordinary situation, is it?”

“No.”

Alon, who wiped away the flowing blood, could hear such an answer from the observer.

She hesitated with a strange expression, not knowing how to explain, and then spoke.

“So, you looked into the mirror and someone spoke to you, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you heard a story there.”

“Yes, clearly related to the gods-”

“Wait, don’t say any more.”

“…Was it something I shouldn’t have said?”

“Yes. Whether here or elsewhere, it’s better not to talk about it. Unless you want to see those things crawling out from the roots.”

The observer sighed deeply.

“Anyway, what you saw in the mirror was a huge something with noise, right?”

“Yes.”

At Alon’s nod, she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“……First, let me tell you this. The mirror you looked into earlier is the ‘Bronze Mirror (銅鏡) that records history.’ Its effect is to show the history it has stored, just as its name suggests.”

“Then, originally-“

“Originally, you should have seen the history shown by the Bronze Mirror. The ability of the Bronze Mirror is nothing more than that. But you-“

The observer paused, as if choosing his words carefully, then continued.

“-It seems you saw something else.”

“……What is that ‘something else’?”

“I can’t explain it either. No matter how much of an observer I am, there’s no way I could identify an entity that can intrude upon the Bronze Mirror’s ability and wield it at will.”

At those words, Alon looked at the Bronze Mirror he was holding in his hand once more.

He wondered if its ability would activate this time.

However, unfortunately, since witnessing that, nothing happened again when he looked at the Bronze Mirror.

As if it was refusing to allow him to see it.

So, when Alon sighed and finally put down the Bronze Mirror, the observer continued his explanation.

“However, it seems certain that you saw an entity you cannot handle. You said you bled a lot and that every word was filled with noise.”

“……Does that happen when you see an entity you can’t handle?”

“If the gap is significantly large, yes. What on earth is this situation?”

The observer shifted his gaze from the Bronze Mirror to Alon.

“First of all, if it has come to this, I don’t think there’s anything more I can help you with.”

“……That’s unfortunate. I didn’t even learn half of the information I originally wanted to know.”

“However, there is one thing I can deduce from what you said.”

“……What is it?”

“Perhaps the ‘deprived one’ mentioned by what you saw is an outsider. And- it seems that what you saw might be trying to protect you.”

“Protect, you say?”

A word that didn’t seem natural to associate with the current situation.

As Alon looked puzzled, the observer paused as if to organize his thoughts, then continued.

“I told you, didn’t I? This Bronze Mirror allows you to see history.”

“Yes.”

“However, not everyone sees the same history. The starting point is different.”

From noble mtl dot com

“The starting point is different?”

The observer pointed to the Bronze Mirror.

“Basically, most of those who look into this Bronze Mirror see the era of the forgotten gods, as you commonly call it. But a few special individuals can see even further back in the past.”

Alon listened to its words and then asked.

“…So, you’re saying there’s a time even before the forgotten age of the gods?”

“Actually, I haven’t seen it myself, but I believe it exists.”

“Why is that?”

“…The previous observer – that is, my master – left a will after seeing that past and then passed away.”

She muttered the words, “Never look at the past before the age of the gods,” and then bitterly licked her lips.

“It was an absurd death. To die because a past that couldn’t be seen even after using the telescope dozens of times suddenly appeared.”

“…Just seeing the past further back can kill you?”

“Yes. If your ‘rank’ is not suitable, absolutely.”

She continued.

“If you had seen the past, it wouldn’t have ended with just bleeding from your eyes, nose, and mouth. You would have probably died, spewing blood from your entire body, or at best, been left crippled.”

“……”

“Of course, I don’t know exactly what the criteria are for being able to see the past, but if you could look into the primordial past like my master, then in fact, it was nothing short of a miracle that you survived.”

“Could it not be related to that?”

“No, I think it is.”

The observer looked at the telescope in Alon’s hand and spoke.

“When my master died after seeing the primordial past, the telescope lost its power for about a year. Just like now.”

“……”

In her eyes, there was a faint trace of unknown anger and longing.

After a moment.

“First, I’ll send you back outside. Since the telescope has lost its power, there’s nothing you can do here. Maybe in a year.”

“…Please do.”

Alon, who had come out of the joint again and boarded the sphere created by the observer, said.

“I have one question, if I may ask?”

“What is it?”

“…This is not something I heard earlier, but something I heard while dealing with foreign news. Do you know the term ‘Star Eater’?”

He asked her that question.

####

After Alon descended, Felin and Fenia also landed on the Syphra Archipelago.

Besides investigating the merman, they were also there because of the items from the Blue Tower that were being secretly delivered to the Syphra Archipelago.

Basically, the items from the Magic Tower were supposed to be handled only in places with legitimate contracts.

Penia and Pellin had come down to Syphra not only to investigate the merman but also to find out where the illegal items were being distributed.

“Ah- this is so annoying, why do I have to do this just because I’m the deputy tower master-“

As soon as Count Palatio disappeared, she quickly returned to her usual self, dragging her staff and wearing an expression that showed how tired she was of life itself.

‘As expected.’

Pellin thought of Count Palatio.

In fact, most of the suspicions he had about Count Palatio had now disappeared.

The magic he had shown in the battle with the merman a week ago was so great that even he couldn’t easily grasp it.

However, the reason he thought of Count Palatio when he looked at Penia was not because he wondered why she was so submissive to the count, but because of the next stage of his question – no, his certainty.

So Pellin, who had been watching Penia for a while, soon opened his mouth.

“Sister.”

“Why are you talking to me when it’s so hot?”

Penia answered irritably.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Looking at her like that.

“Do you, by any chance, like Count Palatio?”

Pellin casually threw out those words.

And then.

Smack!

“Argh!”

Penia hit the back of his head as he was walking.

Pellin looked at Penia with a surprised expression, but also with a very bewildered look.

“No, why did you suddenly hit me-“

But before he could finish his sentence, Penia hit the back of his head again.

“Ah, seriously- I’m already annoyed because it’s so hot, do you want to die, you b*stard!?”

As if a volcano had erupted, she started pulling his hair and hitting his side indiscriminately with her other hand.

“Ouch! Ouch! Sister!? Why all of a sudden!”

“Like? Do I like him? Do you call that a question!? Why would I like Count Palatio!?”

“No, I just- you always act so demure when you’re next to Count Palatio…!”

“You b*stard, I was originally well-behaved!”

“No, you weren’t originally like that—”

“Shut up! Why on earth would I like that person?! How could you even come to such a conclusion?!”

“Then, you don’t like him?”

“There’s no reason to like him in the first place! I mean, I like Count Palatio—”

Pennia, seemingly even more enraged by Pellin’s bewildered expression, increased the speed of her punches.

Instinctively feeling that she had stepped into a wrong path, Pellin tried to seek forgiveness too late.

“—I do like him.”

“……?”

Pennia suddenly halted her fists, and Pellin, rubbing her sore side, looked at her with a perplexed expression.

“Yeah, I like him. Yes, I like him and that’s that.”

She realized that the trembling gaze of Pennia was fixed on a single point.

“…….”

Turning her head, there stood Count Palatio.

The count stood there, expressionless, quietly observing Pennia and Pellin.

And then.

“Y-you love him…?”

…Pennia’s mournful and sorrowful voice echoed in Pellin’s ear.